Are You Close to Your Siblings?

The age gap between all my sisters and I is 3 1/2 years total. They had us one right after the other. We are as close in age, as you can really get. No, we are not close. We just never have been. We are all so opposite. We still aren't close. We don't dislike each other, but we have nothing in common. We all would have been OK as only children!!

I have a sibling... that, since I was born probably, was not always nice.
Hence, even to this day, I will not trust, completely.
I always have to keep my wits about me.
Because, the appearance of things, is not always what it is.

But yes, relationships change and evolve. For better or worse.
Common sense, has to, be prevalent.

I consider myself close to both my brother (6 years older) and sister (14 years younger) but MUCH closer to my sister. My brother moved away to college when I was in 8th grade. We keep in touch via email or Skype about 1x a week and see each other 2-3 times a year. We grew up close but then kind of grew apart when he went to college. We are closer now that we have kids around the same age.

My sister lives close (25 minutes) and we see each other at least 1x a week. She's getting ready to go to college next year so I'll be interested in seeing I hear from her more or less. We have always been close. I was 14 when she was born and ALWAYS wanted a baby sister so I doted on her. I'm like her second mother.

Neither have ever done anything to me that wasn't nice. My sister has forgotten about making plans to watch my kids 2x in the past few months so that kinda stung but she's also 18 years old, has a boyfriend and is a senior in HS so I cut her a bit of slack.

My Sister is my best friend (we talk daily and usually multiple times a day!) and has been since we both graduated from H.S. We fought a lot during h.s. :)
She has lived as far as Boston, N.C., AZ, CA and she is now just 4.5 hrs away over in Seattle. We grow closer as we get older.
She has surprised me many times, but always in a good way. She's never done anything that wasn't nice to hurt me intentionally.

My Brother is my soul mate. I know that sounds weird, but it's true! He and I can carry on a conversation with very few words and know exactly what the other one says/means. We literally NEVER fight. Even as kids. He was in the military after H.S. and I missed him like crazy. He now lives near Olympia with his lovely wife. He is one of the nicest people I know and is that way with everyone!

They both mean the world to me!

I have always been really close with my older siblings. Our parents divorced when we were very young and we always had each other to depend on. As adults we have lived in different states and we were all kind of distant from each other in our twenties, but as we got older we were close again. It was very hard for my sister and I to lose our older brother, it's like a part of us died too.
I am also very close with my youngest half sister. I was 14 when she was born and I make sure I am always there for her, no matter what.
None of my siblings have never really done anything mean to me or the others, we do disagree of things but doesn’t everyone. All relationships change over time, that is a part of life.

I have a brother who is 3 years younger than I am, a sister who is 6 years younger, and a sister who is 10 years younger. I am close to each of them, but in different ways.

My brother just called me a few minutes ago to discuss some drama between his fiancee and her sister, we talk more now that he is in the process of settling down. We fought all the time as kids, but are friends now, and he is an awesome uncle to my two boys. He lives 120 miles away.

My sister lives an 8 hour drive from me, and we talk a few times a month and text more often. She calls me her "life coach" and I think she doesn't always give me the nitty-gritty details of her life unless she needs help with something. Of all my siblings I am least close to this sister.

My baby sister lives 10 minutes away, and spends as much time at my house as she does at her own. She still lives with our parents, but seems to find my place a bit more, um welcoming sometimes. She is a college student and I consider her to be a friend, but there can be a mother/daughter vibe to our relationship as well. Our mom can be very judgmental and closed-minded, so sometimes I'm the adult she comes to with whatever.
None of my siblings have ever (as adults, at least) done anything I would consider not nice to me.

I have one brother. He's four years older than me, lives about 3 hours away, and we are quite close. We talk on the phone once a week or so (for between 20 and 45 minutes usually).
He's a really good-hearted guy. The last thing he did that was a real surprise was marry a girl that no one else in my family likes. Since 2000, we have been trying to figure out what he sees in her. Cest la vie.
Over the years, our relationship has been pretty consistent. We don't fight.
Looking forward to seeing him at Christmas!

I posted this about a year ago and got great responses!

I am the oldest of 3; I have 2 little brothers, one is 2 years younger, the other is 7 years younger (both are a foot taller, LOL)... I pretty much raised my brothers, so in our childhood, we had a very weird relationship (my role being caretaker vs 'big sister')...

The middle brother, I love him because he's my brother, but I don't LIKE him as a person. He's too stuffy and responsible, like we wouldn't be friends if we were strangers. He and his wife just bought a house an hour away, and we don't see each other very often, but we talk on the phone at least once a month. If I needed help with something, I know I could call him and he would be there. We've just recently been talking about how we were never as close as siblings as we probably should be, so we're working on it.

My baby brother (I say 'baby', but he's 21) I absolutely adore. He is the male version of me. I am so proud of him! He's in college and being responsible, but he's also making sure he's enjoying life as well. I'm much closer with him that my other brother, because we have more in common. I don't see him much when he's in school, but I know if I'm bummed out, I can always call him for a good laugh! I mean, the kid rented a LLAMA... yeah.

Since we're all adults now, I do feel like our relationship is evolving. I'm no longer the caretaker (obviously), and they are both uncles to my kids (and I can't wait to be an aunt!!)... We talk about 'reliving' some of our childhood as adults, like the 3 of us want to go camping where our parents used to take us as little kids, stuff like that. I'm definitely closer now with my brothers than ever before, I think because some of the weight of care taking is off my shoulders, and we're all equals standing on our own 2 feet now :)

I would do anything for my brothers. I have their initials tattooed on the inside of my wrist. I would have their back no matter what, and I know they'd do the same for me!!

I used to be very close to my sister. She had been My Big Sister for as long as I could remember. She was the first person I called when I found out I was pregnant, the first person I told when my husband and I shared our first kiss, the first when ever I had joyous or painful news. She loved me unconditionally; a rare gift. She protected me too, always wanting the best for me.

At some point, the fracture she'd been walking around with snapped. Her internal light went out and she left. Most months, I don't know if my sister is dead or alive. I no longer know the secrets of her heart, what brings her joy or pain. I'm not sure she knows either.

My sister was broken at the end. I used to feel very angry at her, particularly for leaving even as her daughter, my niece, was turning three and needed her to heal, to parent, to change, to grow. Instead my sister left. She left to protect us from her wake of damage and to give her daughter a chance to be raised in our home. It was a sacrifice and a hard transition. My niece ached for her mother.

It has been 18 months now. My niece is four now and has been learning to relax and trust again. She has been big time healing. My daughter and her love each other fiercely. They play like happy puppies, thrilled and amazed with themselves. They are FUNNY and interesting (read: mischievous) little people.

Still, I watch my niece and know she feels different, like she's on the outside looking in. With time and Love, I hope her ache will continue to diminish, like a drop into the ocean. I feel very grateful that I get to parent my niece. I love that kid like she came from my body. She looks like my sister; large green eyes under heavy lids, straight bushy hair, a tall skinny frame, an impish grin and a sparkle in her eye. She has many of my sister's gifts as well. It's wonderful to get to share with her the memories I have of her birth mother, as she shares with me her own.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about my sister. I will always love her, even if just in memory.

I have 9 siblings. I am close to all the girls, some more than others, but we are all close. When I was living in the DC area we got together about once a month. I talk to my one sister almost daily, about nothing. We didn't always get along and we didn't always like each other. I think once we were all on our own we discovered that each other wasn't so bad and that is when we all became really close. There were a lot of not nice moments in our house, but at least we all look back on it and laugh about it now. As for surprises, the boys are particularily close to anyone in the family, but when my brother was hit by a car, we all showed up at the hospital, including one of the brothers that absolutely hates hospitals, but he was there for support.

I have a sister who lives about 20 minutes away but we are not close at all, never had been. It is a forced relationship as we only see each other maybe around the holidays. When our mother passes, we will probably never see each other anymore. No love lost here though. When I was 15 and she was 17, she came after me with a knife. That was both a surpise and definiately not nice.

I have two older sisters. Oldest one is 5 years older than me and they both live within 25 minutes from me. They are my best friends, and no, they have never done anything shady...ever.
I guess am I really lucky I have them, because I have heard of people doing crappy things to their siblings. Thats just not us. Thank God. :)

I have six siblings total. I was only raised with two of them. I live within a 3 hour drive of 4 of them and I'm 16+ hours away from the other two. I am close to the two siblings I was raised with. I am the middle child of those two. I am however the oldest of the other 4 and there's many years between the two youngest and myself. I am not close to any of those 4.

I've found that as I've gotten older and have my own life I am still only close to one of my siblings. I speak to all of them occasionally but the closeness I shared with the two I was raised with has only remained with my younger brother. Outside of my older sister doing normal childhood things to me, and condemning me for the way I was raise my children none of my other siblings have done wrong by me. As an FYI no I don't do anything mean or odd with my children however I am a non-vaccinating, non-religious, type of mom.

Updated

I have six siblings total. I was only raised with two of them. I live within a 3 hour drive of 4 of them and I'm 16+ hours away from the other two. I am close to the two siblings I was raised with. I am the middle child of those two. I am however the oldest of the other 4 and there's many years between the two youngest and myself. I am not close to any of those 4.

I've found that as I've gotten older and have my own life I am still only close to one of my siblings. I speak to all of them occasionally but the closeness I shared with the two I was raised with has only remained with my younger brother. Outside of my older sister doing normal childhood things to me, and condemning me for the way I was raise my children none of my other siblings have done wrong by me. As an FYI no I don't do anything mean or odd with my children however I am a non-vaccinating, non-religious, type of mom.

Not particularly. I have brother who is 6 years older than me and has lived in California for about 12 years, so other than seeing him once a year and the occasional happy birthday call, that's about all the interaction we have. It's weird - but when we see one another, it's like no times has passed. We are always there if the other needs something, we just don't communicate. I also have a sister who is 12 years younger then me, and we live closer - but we are so far apart in age that our priorities are different. Again, other than seeing her a few times a year - we don't have much of a relationship. Both siblings are half siblings. It was different when we were all in the area, but everyone is somewhere else now it seems. But I love them dearly.

My husband has a brother & sister (he's the middle and there is 3 years difference between them). His sister lives 2 blocks away, his brother 7 miles - and I talk to them more than he does.

I hope our kids have a closer relationship with one another than we do with our siblings/

I have two siblings both older. My sister is 5 years older and I despise her but I have learned some very valuable lessons from watching her screw up her life. Our relationship was ok growing up until she failed out of college and became a liar, thief and all around nutcase. She treats her children like garbage and abandoned the youngest most recently. I only talk to her because of her kids. She lives in Asia right now. My brother refuses to have anything to do with her. My brother is 6 years older than me and we have a great relationship. Next to my husband and very best girlfriend he's one of my closest friends. We can and do turn to each other for anything. I am very blessed to have this relationship with him. He lives 10 minutes away and is the godfather to both my children. He does amazing things for me all the time. Most recently drove 2 hours in a monsoon to come be with my oldest while hubby and I had to go to the hospital because I was having preterm labor. We were not close growing up not until he went to college. We always talk about how all three of us grew up in the same house but how one of us turned out to be such a disaster. My parents question what happened as well.

My brother and I are very close, and always have been. He is two years younger than me. We trust each other's judgement and often turn to each other for advice, and we have a great time together, too. We are both happily married, and we like each other's spouses. We talk a couple of times a week, and see each other often. Our families are close, too. I love him, and hope my boys will have the same type of relationship. Right now my sons are very close, and I hope they stay that way as they grow older.

I have two sisters and a brother. Sadly we are not close. Our parents used the tactic "divide and conquer" while raising us. When we were older we discovered our parents continued to "stir the pot so to speak."

When I was building our house I hired some contractors to do plumbing and electrical. When I asked my brother in law for a quote my sister who is 4 year younger than I am, would not let her husband do any of the work. In fact she slapped my cousin in the face for doing the job.

My brother is 16 years younger than me. He was raised as an only child and even though he is married with children our parents continued to support him and his family.

It has caused our family alot of problems and we will never be close. We just do not know how and those of us that want to be close have problems trusting. It is easy for each of us to fall back into old patterens.

Not close at all, never have been. We are 14 months apart. Growing up I tried to be his friend, followed him around like a puppy dog, but he either ignored me or was mean. He became very religous as a teen and was extremely judgemental. As an adult he holds some view points that are very out there, really not rational. I see him once a year or so when I visit my mom, and that's only because I want to see my nieces. He has done many things that weren't nice over the years, I choose not to have any contact with him anymore so he can't continue the pattern.

No, I don't have any. =(

I only have 1 little brother, with 4 1/2 year between us. We lived in the middle of nowhere so it was pretty much just the two of us. We had our spats but for the most part got along growing up. He would tell me what he thought of my boyfriends and I would do the same for him.
I left home when I was 18 due to problems with our mother. We really didnt talk much then. We have gotten closer again. He adores his niece and nephew and does all he can to make sure that they drive me nuts. If I need him he is there. My son really looks up to him so when I have problems with him, I make a call to my brother and he can usually talk sense into him.
I would be lost without my little brother!

My brother is 3 years younger than me and growing up we were seriously best friends. However, when he entered his teenage years, he became quiet, distance and isolated himself from me. I continued to try and be his best friends but he kept on pushing me away. I am now 26 yrs old, and we still arent close at all. I continue to try but he continues to keep me at a distance. He lives 45 mins away from and I only see him once a year on christmas.

I wouldn't consider my brother a friend, but we are close. He loves to do little outings with my kids, and we have dinner with him from time to time. They live a mile from us. We use to hang out with him and his wife all the time, but during their divorce I supported my SIL. I am trying to become friends with his new gfriend.

No and sadly never have been. I have a younger brother by 2.5 yrs. I've always had resentment for him since I can remember. I think mainly because my parents used his ADD as an excuse for everything. he was never held to the same standards I was, and I felt I was made to always pick up after him.

As an adult I'm over it and wish we could have a closer relationship. We are cordial and when I see him (usually at my parents house asking for money or something) we'll exchange hi's and that's about it.

Since highschool he's had an addiction problem, and my parents have tried everything and lots of money to try to get him help. I wasn't to keen on that, but the moment he chose drugs over his kids, was when I really lost any desire to have a relationship with him.

Everyday I look at his sweet boys, and can't help but think he has no idea what he's missing. and again, my parents are left picking up his mess,, and again my family and kids are also left with suffering for his decisions. Not that its that big of deal, or that I ever hold my parents responsible for taking in those two boys, but my kids and my nephews now really don't get to enjoy the true benefits of having "grandparents". But such is life, I just hope one day my brother really grasps what his choices have done to our whole family, but especially to his dear children.

No.
They are more interested in time and holidays with friends than with family. One even suggested having Christmas joint with her friend's family.

My sister is three years older than I am. Growing up, we hated each other. I don't want to sound self centered, but she has always been jealous of me. Even our mom agrees. She hated that I got good grades without trying, I was naturally athletic, had great friends, and always had fun. She was very smart, but had to work hard for grades, wasn't athletic but wanted to be, wasn't a social butterfly.

In our age now, I am 25, we are very good friends, but she is still envious. I had two kids before she had one. That is her main hang up. She has it all going for her! She owns a house, has a great career, her wonderful husband also has a great career, and they are expecting their first baby in April. She is jealous because her five year plan didn't pan out. But SO WHAT?!? She has it all now, just a couple years later than she wanted.

Ok, rant over about my sister. I love her dearly, and we are very good friends and close siblings now. We live less than a mile from each other and we text daily.